THE NEW TRIBALISM: Defending Human Rights in an Age of Ethnic Conflict : A World of Civil Strife

From the genocidal "ethnic cleansing" of the former Yugoslav federation to the brutal conflicts in the former Soviet Union and many countries of Africa and Asia, violence has taken root between people who share the same terrain but differ in ethnicity, race, language or religion. A U.N. report in May estimated that "internal conflicts afflict some 60 countries" in the developing world alone.

Although some of these conflicts have a long history, many have been fanned by deliberate government policies designed to divide and conquer opponents, justify repression of separatist movements or fend off calls for democracy.

Here is a sampling of some of the most deadly or dangerous ethnic and religious conflicts today.

19. India: Religious violence between Hindus and Muslims since 1974. More than 2,000 deaths since September, 1992. In Kashmir, Muslim separatists rebelled in 1990 against Hindu rule. About 6,000 killed. In Punjab, Sikh miltants have rebelled for 11 years against Hindu rule. About 20,000 killed.

21. Myanmar: Guerrilla warfare by at least four insurgent groups has killed about 6,000 since 1988. Muslims in the West fleeing into Bangladesh; Karens in east along Thai-Myanmar border. Government offensives against minorities living along borders with Thailand, China and Bangladesh

28. Kenya: Human rights groups say the government exacerbates tribal tensions even as it argues that political pluralism would degenerate into tribal conflict.

29. Liberia: Civil war pits Gio and Mano ethnic groups under Charles Taylor against Krahn ethnic group of the late President Samuel K. Doe. Tens of thousands killed or dead of starvation resulting from war.